


Look After You

by 30degreesandsnowing



Series: An Abridged Family Medical Guide, 6th Edition [2]
Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, small cute animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 13:39:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7894732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/30degreesandsnowing/pseuds/30degreesandsnowing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neil's  fever is down, but there are thing that need to be said. Or not said, as the case may be. </p>
<p>Post chapter 2 of 'An Abridged Family Medical Guide, 6th Ed.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Slow it Down

**Author's Note:**

> [imagined_melody](http://archiveofourown.org/users/imagined_melody/pseuds/imagined_melody) came by yesterday and said, '[Neil's chapter](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7807486/chapters/17974411) was good, but what happened the next morning? I feel like there are some things they need to work out." (I'm paraphrasing) To which I replied, 'well, yes,' and started to explain. Then I gave up and just ficced it. I hope you like!

> _When Andrew was 6, the foster home he had been staying in did not allow pets. Andrew had found a litter of abandoned newborn kittens, and smuggled them into the house, anyway. He spent a week stealing formula, feeding them every couple hours, and tucking hot water bottles around their bed to keep them warm. When one of his foster siblings found out, Andrew had been relieved he would have someone to help. The kittens were tossed outside the next morning. Andrew was moved to another home as soon as the bruising healed. The foster sibling got extra dessert._
> 
> _\--An Abridged Family Medical Guide, 6th Ed., Chapter 2_

* * *

The first morning alarm went off at 8:30, about half an hour after Andrew had finally managed to fall back asleep. He was going to kill someone. Probably Neil, since all of this was his fault. Possibly Kevin, since it was his fucking phone alarm, and he was the one desperate to get to court today. Maybe just the phone, because then he could go back to sleep and not have to worry about the second alarm going off at 9:15.

The alarm turned off. To his right, Kevin made some kind of strangled groan of despair as he tried to get out of bed. Neil didn’t even twitch.

Andrew pulled the blankets up over his head. “Don’t you dare leave your phone in here,” he said.

Kevin didn’t say anything, but he never said much before noon. He took his phone with him out of the bedroom, though. Andrew counted it as a win, and closed his eyes.

Neil was due for a Tylenol in one hour.

Kevin’s bite needed to be checked for inflammation.

Someone needed to do laundry before they ran out of clean pajamas

Was Kevin going to feed the cats, or was he too out of it to realize they had been yowling at him for the last five minutes?

Andrew slid down the bed so he could get up without crawling over Neil. He needed a smoke.

Kevin was hunched over the blender when Andrew entered the kitchen. He looked at Andrew, and Andrew couldn’t help but notice the bags under his eyes and the hurt line of his mouth. It had been a long night for both of them.

Andrew said, “Feed the cats,” and sat down on one of the high stools in the breakfast nook. He cracked open the window, breaking through an inch of ice and snow to do so. A half empty pack of cigarettes and a lighter were on the table. The pack had lasted Neil and Andrew a full month; Kevin’s nagging was having a better effect with the cigarettes than it did their meal plans.

“Fucking hell, Andrew,” Kevin said, as soon as he noticed the cold air coming in.

“Talk to Neil,” Andrew said, ignoring his complaint. “Before you leave for work.”

Kevin poured his smoothie into a glass. He said, “Fuck you,” but turned toward the bedrooms when he left the kitchen, instead of sitting down with Andrew.

That was good. Andrew didn’t want company.

He brought a cigarette to his lips and lit up. Smoke in his mouth, smoke in his lungs, and the taste of tobacco on his tongue. Andrew closed his eyes and exhaled, took another drag, let the drug seep into him.

One of the cats meowed loudly from the floor.

Andrew opened his eyes. The cat stared up at him imperiously.

“Neil would kill me if I shared,” he told it seriously.

The cat was unimpressed. He -- which one was this? Was it a he? -- jumped up onto the table and shoved his face into Andrew’s. Andrew hissed and yanked his cigarette away.

“Don’t,” he said, minding the embers. “Get off the table.”

The cat did listen, Andrew mused a moment later, as twelve pounds of feline dropped into his lap claws first.

The other cat, wanting to see what all the fuss was about, jumped up on the table after her brother. Andrew sighed, and set his cigarette in the ashtray. The cat nosed along his cheek and meowed.

“Okay,” Andrew said softly, so Neil and Kevin wouldn’t be able to hear even if they were about to walk in. “Okay, I’ll put it out.” The cat licked his nose. Andrew ground out the cigarette. Now that both hands were free, he could scratch the cats’ heads and pet down their sides. The second cat edged closer and closer to Andrew, chasing his fingers, until she also ended up in his lap.

They were pretty spoiled, Andrew thought, but they were warm and soft and would claw him to shreds if he tried to get up before they were satisfied. Andrew settled a little more comfortably in his chair, and prepared to wait them out.


	2. Say This Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil and Kevin talk about running, fighting, and not at all about forgiveness.

> _“Why are you holding me down?” [Neil asked.] “You’ve been hallucinating,” Kevin said. Neil shuddered with such visceral horror that Kevin regretted his bluntness. Kevin did not let him go[...]_
> 
> _\-- An Abridged Family Medical Guide, 6th Ed., Chapter 2_
> 
> * * *
> 
> _Neil looked at Andrew, and then at Kevin. He reached out a hand, fingers hovering over the bloody wound on Kevin’s shoulder. “I bit you,” Neil said._
> 
> _\-- An Abridged Family Medical Guide, 6th Ed., Chapter 2_

* * *

Neil woke up to an empty bed and a room as dark as midnight. His head hurt, and his throat ached, and all his muscles were sore, but the worst of it all were his abs. Where was the ibuprofen? It was a day for ibuprofen.

Except if the last few hours were any example, he’d just throw them back up.

Neil stared piteously at the wall. He was lying on the edge of the bed. The blankets were tangled around his knees, and his feet were bare and cold. The rest of him was far too hot. He had a fever. Memory was hazy, but he could vaguely recall Kevin grumbling at him and Andrew holding his hair back while he gagged over the toilet.

Last night had sucked.

Neil sat up, wrapping the blankets around him as he moved. The comfort they offered outweighed the fact they there were so. damned. hot. When he managed to stand up, they pooled at his feet in a train, and that was good. His feet were freezing.

“Andrew?” he croaked. “Kevin?” He took a few steps forward, and saw a line of light under the bathroom door. It was a place to start looking.

Opening the bathroom door made Neil flinch and tuck his head into the blanket draped over his head. He had a headache. It was definitely a light sensitive headache. Andrew and Kevin were very thoughtful, making sure none of the light got into the bedroom while Neil slept. Neil squinted into the room.

Kevin was spitting toothpaste into the sink. He was dressed for work, so it must have been morning. Neil sank against the door, feeling weaker just thinking about being on court.

“What time do you leave?” Neil asked.

Kevin looked up from the sink to the bathroom mirror, catching Neil’s gaze in the reflection. “You’re up,” Kevin said, and turned to face him. He frowned down at Neil. “You should be back in bed.”

Neil shrugged. “Both of you were gone,” he said.

Kevin’s frown softened. “Andrew’s taking another day off,” he offered. “I’m supposed to be in the weight room by 11. I’ll be home around 5.”

Neil made a face. “Andrew’s taken enough time,” he said, but couldn’t help relaxing. He was glad Andrew would be there. 

Kevin gave him a half smile and tilted his chin to say, _Liar_.

That was fair enough. Neil took three steps forward and thunked his face on Kevin’s shoulder to avoid responding. Kevin winced, and Neil tilted his head up to see why. The faintest remains of pain were smoothing over on Kevin’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Neil asked, even as memory settled. ‘ _I bit you,_ ’ he had said, sick to his stomach and the world spinning around him.

“Nothing to worry about,” Kevin said.

“I bit you,” Neil said again, sick to his stomach, and the world spinning around him.

Kevin rolled his eyes. “You weren’t yourself,” he said. “You also punched me, and tried to kneecap me. It’s nothing.”

That was worse. He was Neil, not Nathaniel; that’s who they wanted, that’s who he wanted to be. Nathaniel was a bomb waiting to explode. Neil played Exy. Nathaniel tried to hurt Kevin. Neil felt like his lungs were too big for his chest. Was that blood in his mouth? He was going to be sick.

“Neil!” Kevin said. He sounded like he’d repeated the name a few times.

Neil dragged his eyes up from Kevin’s shoulder to meet Kevin’s. Kevin was impatient and annoyed. Neil was despondent.

“Sorry,” Neil said.

“It’s no -- Neil, do you know why you bit me?”

“Does it matter?” Neil asked.

Kevin flinched again, his eyes turning bleak. “I held you down while you thought your father was coming to kill you.”

Neil took a step back. “What?”

Kevin’s jaw was tight with anger, grief, and self-loathing. “You thought you were in Baltimore,” Kevin said. “I couldn’t let you run. It was freezing, and you were sick. I pinned you down and wouldn’t let you go.”

_You were begging_ , Kevin’s miserable mouth said. _You were terrified of me_ , his slumped shoulders added.

Oh. What did Neil even say to that?

“Thank you,” he finally said. “For not letting me run.”

He had promised Andrew.

The words hit Kevin like a blow. His head turned, his breathing went ragged, and his eyes closed. Neil stepped back against him. The blankets fell to the floor as he put his arms around Kevin’s waist. Sometimes, touch was a better way to talk to Kevin than words. Or maybe it was just easier to say _‘I forgive you_ ,’ and ‘ _I still want to be here_ ,’ when he didn’t have to say the words. They wouldn’t hurt Kevin the way they would hurt Andrew, but they still stuck in Neil’s throat.

“Alright,” Kevin finally whispered, his own arms coming around Neil to hold tight. Kevin was tall enough that he had to fold his body around Neil’s, to bend his head and stoop his shoulders so they could melt into each other. He kissed the top of Neil’s head, and then Neil’s temple. It was his own ‘ _I forgive you_ ,’ and ‘ _I really hate to leave, but I’m going to be late_.’

“Yeah,” Neil agreed drowsily. “I think I’m ready to sleep, again.”

Kevin tucked him back into bed and made him drink lukewarm tea before he left. Neil had almost fallen back asleep when Andrew came into the bedroom. He was carrying a tray of food and half a pharmacy. Neil watched him come in, close the door, sit on the bed beside him, but he was too tired to do anything more.

“Did you and Kevin sort it out?” Andrew asked, setting the tray down over Neil’s lap.

Oh. That was why Andrew had been gone when Neil woke up. Neil managed to smile up at Andrew. “Yeah,” he said.

“Good.” Lines Neil had barely noticed smoothed out in Andrew’s face. “You need to eat.”

Neil glanced down to see dry toast and another mug of tea waiting for him. He warned, “I’m probably just going to throw it up again.”

“As long as you don’t throw up on me, I don’t care,” Andrew said.

Neil frowned. “Why --” he looked at Andrew, and then at the tray. There was something else he was forgetting.

“No,” Neil said.

Andrew looked amused. “Yes,” he said.

“I didn’t,” Neil protested.

“In the bathroom, before we got you in the shower,” Andrew informed him.

“I couldn’t have!”

“Should I have taken a picture?” Andrew asked.

Neil groaned and put his arm over his face. “You can’t tell me I threw up all over Kevin?!”

**Author's Note:**

> title is from the Fray song of the same name, and chapter titles are lyrics within the song


End file.
